Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/463

Rh Grand Duet, *No. 1; Do. No. 2; *Do. in 3 movements, insc. to F. Marshall.

Voluntaries. In D, in C, in C minor, in C, in E♭, in G minor, in F in C (all in *op. 6); Do. in G, in D, in D, in A, in F; *3 Voluntaries ded. to W. Harding; a 2nd set of do.; *6 Voluntaries for young Organists; *One do. insc. to Thos. Attwood; *Do. in G minor insc. to W. Linley; *Do. in G, insc. to H. J. Gauntlett; *One do. insc. to W. Drummer, Esq.; *A 2nd in D, insc. to the same; *Easy Voluntaries; *6 do.; *A short and familiar Voluntary in A; *12 short pieces with full Voluntary added; *12 short pieces with Grand Fugue; *A Book of Interludes; *Fugue in D; *Preludes and Fugues or Exercises; *6 Introductory movements, and Fugue in D; *Characteristic airs for the Seraphine; Concerto in D for Organ and Violin (1800).

Pianoforte. *Eight lessons (1777); *Duet March in D, No. 25; 3 Sonatas, op. 3; 4 Sonatas and 2 Duets, op. 5; Sonata with fugue on subject of Salomon's; 2 Sonatas for PF. or Harpsichord with acc. for Violin, op. 2; *Sonatina, ded. to Miss Meeking; *Do. on Air in Tekeli, in G; Rondo in D, Off she goes; *Do. in D, Lady Mary Douglas; Do., Fly not yet; Orphan Mary; Patty Kavannah; The young May moon; *Do. in G minor, Kitty alone and I; *Do. In A, I attempt from Love's sickness; Do. Will Putty; *Belllsima Signora; *Pastorellis Polacca; *Do. in B♭, the Lass of Richmond Hill; Do. in D, Old Towler; *Do. from an Organ Concerto; *Do. on Polish Air, in D minor; *Do. in G; *Bay of Biscay (B♭); *Christmas Carol (E min.); *Moll Pately (in F); *Widdow Waddle (in A); *La Melange; *Scots wha hae; *The Deserter's Meditations; *A favourite Air from Der Freyschutz; *Jacky Horner, with Flute; Adagio, March, and Waltz; *Duet in La Cosa rara; Divertimento, ded. to Miss Walker; *Siege of Badajoz, with March in D; Rondo in A (1778); Waltz, the Skyrocket; *Do. the Coburg; Introd. and Air, insc. to Mrs. Stirling; Sweet Enslaver, with Vars.; *Hornpipe and variations with Introd.; *Variations on a fav. Italian air, in F; *Grand Fugue with March from Ode to S. Cecilia's day; Grand Coronation March; *Do. in D; New March as performed on Parade; Preludes throughout the 8ve both major and minor; *Fugue, insc. to J. B. Logier.

String Quintet, In A; Do. Fugue in B♭ (1800). Quartet (1780); Do. (1799). Trio. Aria for Strings; for Oboe, Violin and Cello; *for PF. and 2 Flutes; for 3 PF's. Duet. Violin and Cello. Sonata à Violino Solo in A. Solo per Violino e Basso. March, Corni, Oboi, Bassoni, Serpent (1777).

[ W. H. H. ]

WESLEY,, Mus. Doc., third son of the above, whose genius he inherited, was born August 14, 1810. Educated at the Bluecoat School, in his 14th year he was elected chorister of the Chapel Royal, St. James's; in 1827 organist at St. James's Church, Hampstead Road; two years later organist of St. Giles's, Camberwell, of St. John's, Waterloo Road, and of Hampton-on-Thames, holding these four appointments simultaneously. In 1832 he became organist of Hereford Cathedral, conducting the festival there in 1834, and a year later marrying the sister of Dean Merewether, when he migrated to Exeter, and remained at that cathedral several years, during which period his reputation as the first English church composer and organist of his country became established. About 1842 he was induced by a good offer from Dr. Hook to accept the organistship of Leeds Parish Church. In 1844 he was a candidate for the Professorship of Music in the University of Edinburgh, then vacant by the resignation of Sir Henry Bishop. Among Wesley's testimonials on that occasion was the following from Spohr:—'His works show, without exception, that he is master of both style and form of the different species of composition, and keeps himself closely to the boundaries which the several kinds demand, not only in sacred art, but also in glees, and in music for the pianoforte. His sacred music is chiefly distinguished by a noble, often even an antique style, and by rich harmonies as well as by surprisingly beautiful modulations.' Before his candidature at Edinburgh Wesley took a Doctor's degree, by special grace, at Oxford, and wrote, as exercise, his fine anthem in eight parts, 'O Lord, Thou art my God.' In 1849 he was appointed to Winchester Cathedral, where the school offered facilities for the education of his sons. After fifteen years in Cathedral and School Chapel, Wesley, being consulted by the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester as to the claims of candidates for that organistship then (1865) vacant, intimated that he would himself accept it, an offer which was naturally taken advantage of. This post brought him more prominently forward in the musical world, as conductor ex officio, once in three years, of the Three-Choir Festivals, and the change seemed for a time to reanimate energies and powers which had not received adequate public recognition. While at Gloucester, he received from Mr. Gladstone's Government a Civil List pension of £100 per annum, in consideration of his services to Church music.

But the best years had been spent of a life which, to a less sensitive nature, might have been happier and more eventful; and long-deferred hopes for restorations of founder's intentions, and for thorough reforms in Cathedral matters generally—reforms which, both with pen and voice, he warmly and constantly advocated—combined with other disappointments and cares, shortened his days, and after some ten years tenure of his Gloucester post, he died there in April 1876 [App. p.816 "for in April read April 19"], and his last words were 'Let me see the sky'—words appropriate for one whose motto as a composer seemed always 'Excelsior.' According to his own wish he was buried at Exeter [App. p.816 "for at Exeter read in the old cemetery at Exeter"], by the side of an only daughter, who died in 1840, and some eminent musicians were present at the funeral. A tablet to his memory has been placed on the north wall of the nave of the Cathedral, on which these words are inscribed—'This monument has been placed here by friends as an expression of high esteem for his personal worth, and in admiration of his great musical genius.' But a more lasting monument, of his own creation, exists in his works. For as composer for the Church of England, Dr. Wesley may fairly be placed in the highest rank of his contemporaries, i.e. 1830–1860. In his elaborate Service in E major, published with an interesting preface whilst he was at Leeds, advantage is taken of modern resources of harmony and modulation, without departure, now so often the case, from the lines of that true church school to which the composer had been so long habituated. And this judicious combination of ancient and modern is characteristic of his church music, in which he gives practical illustration of the reform which he was always urging. His fame will chiefly rest on his volume of twelve anthems, published about the year 1854. Two of these, composed at Hereford, 'Blessed be the God and Father,' and 'The Wilderness,' are now universally recognised as standard works of excellence. Later in life Wesley soared even higher—for instance, in his noble 'O Lord, Thou art my God,' above mentioned, in his 'Ascribe unto the Lord,' composed in the Winchester period, and also in the exquisite